1.4 billion people--one quarter of the world's population--live on less than one dollar per day. And as the global economic crisis spreads, extreme poverty will continue to be a severe problem.
In 2000, the United Nations brokered consensus among all nations for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), eight concrete objectives that target the underlying causes of poverty. The overarching goal of the MDGs is to eradicate extreme poverty by 2015.
The goals include disease prevention, universal education, food security, economic opportunity, and environmental protection.
With the world's largest economy, the United States should help spearhead the world's efforts over the next seven years to reach these ambitious goals.
Tell President Obama to fight extreme poverty and to make it a top international priority to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
